The Origin of Feces

This looks like an interesting book. [Amazon Link]. Nat Geo has an interview with the author, David Waltner-Toews, that includes details such as, "in the slums of Nairobi, human poop powers hot showers and other services. In California, dog doo-doo keeps a dog park electrified."

The author offers this summary of his book: "as soon as you have life, you have essentially poop. As life developed, the waste for one animal became food for another animal. We depend on a web of recycling of nutrients, and poop is an important part of that. People get sqeaumish but they shouldn’t be. If you don’t think of it as poop, but instead think of it as recycling nutrients, this is a really interesting and sustainable way to produce food."
     Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 10, 2013
     Category: Science | Books | Excrement





Comments
Just when you want to post the link to Emily Litella's SNL rant on endangered feces, it is no where to be found. Can anyone find it?
Posted by Harvey on 02/10/13 at 03:12 PM
Poop returns nutrients to the ground and plants draw the nutrients out again. Poop is not turned directly into food for goodness sakes! The ground filters out the waste.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 02/10/13 at 08:21 PM
I'll stick to Soylant Green, thank you very much!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 02/11/13 at 12:42 AM
Expat. Its been many years since I read the book. Hey we would be Soylant Green!!
Posted by BMN on 02/11/13 at 04:30 AM
Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is powering batteries with recycled urine. One city father avowed that their secondary intent is to discourage drunks from peeing in the streets. If this actually works, watch for beer joints to power their big screens with these devices. A bossa nova or samba celebrating recycling is not yet in the works, and a country song is dreaded.
Posted by Angie unduplicated on 02/11/13 at 09:56 AM
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